Will Barton had finished playing all his basketball games for the day at a summer camp in Long Beach, Calif., when the top 20 prospect in the high school class of 2010 decided to answer questions from two men wearing media credentials.

Barton had seen the men before, liked them, and said he knew they wanted him to play college basketball at North Carolina State. After recalling great moments in Wolfpack history in front of a video camera, media members began shooting baskets; Barton took a basketball from one of the men, Lou Pascucci, and said: "Check up, check up. Roll that camera!" The 6-foot-6 Barton challenged the 5-8 Pascucci to engage in a most unusual activity for an interviewee and a media member, a one-on-one game with high stakes: If Pascucci won, Barton would pledge to go to N.C. State.